A material cutting machine has a tool mount support mounted for reciprocal movement and a tool mount supported by the tool mount support. A driver, such as a pneumatic cylinder, selectively advances and retracts the tool mount support. A control system is operatively coupled to the driver for setting the advancement force of the tool mount support when a tool supported by said tool mount contacts a workpiece, such as the edge or surface of a moving strip. In this way, the depth of cut of the tool is controlled by tool advancement force rather than by accurate positioning of the tool. In one embodiment, the tool mount support may have a head and a base and a resilient member resiliently coupling the head to the base to provide a damped resilience. With this embodiment, a transient spike in the reaction force which may result, for example, from a hard spot in the material, causes the tool to momentarily deflect. Swing links may maintain the lateral positioning of the tool whenever it momentarily retreats due to a reaction force spike. A guide for the tool mount may be pivotably mounted to a frame so that a rake angle of a tool supported by the tool mount may be varied.